BREAKING STORY: Military Coup in Turkey [Updates]
[guest post by JVW]
The Turkish military is claiming that they have taken over management of the country, according to news outlets. Details are sketchy as of this moment, with reports that there are tanks on the streets of Ankara and that F-16s are flying low over the city. The government has acknowledged that a coup is underway, but is claiming that it has not (yet?) been successful.
I’ll be away for a few hours this afternoon, so I invite Dana, JD, or Patterico to update this post as more details emerge.
UPDATE 2:15 pm (Pacific Daylight Time) – From CNN: “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Moscow that he has been given reports about what is going on. ‘I don’t have any details. I hope there will be peace, stability and continuity in Turkey,’ he said.”
UPDATE 2:21 pm – The Israeli news agency Haaretz seems to have pretty good coverage along with pictures. They say that CNN reports that Turkish President Erdogen is safe, though I didn’t come across that on CNN’s website.
– JVW
UPDATE – Here are several updates from the AP:
A lawyer for the Turkish government says “there are indications of direct involvement” in the coup attempt of a cleric who is living in exile in Pennsylvania.
Robert Amsterdam said in a statement Friday evening that he and his firm “have attempted repeatedly to warn the U.S. government of the threat posed” by Fethullah Gulen and his movement.
He says that according to Turkish intelligence sources, “there are signs that Gulen is working closely with certain members of military leadership against the elected civilian government.”
The president of a group that promotes Gulen’s ideas denied the charges.
Also, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim says that “things are getting better every minute”.
And, arrests are being made:
NTV television is quoting the prosecutor’s office in Ankara saying at least 42 people have been killed in “attacks” in the capital.
According to Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, the number of soldiers who were arrested in the coup plot has increased to 130.
Further, according to Bloomberg twitter feed, Turkey’s President Erdogan says rebellion-leaders “will pay a heavy price for their treason”.
–Dana
Better get John Kerry out of mothballs for this one.
JVW (eabb2a) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:14 pmFantastic news.
Godspeed, Turkish military!
Denver Guy (21d3a4) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:15 pmUPDATE – From CNN: “U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Moscow that he has been given reports about what is going on. ‘I don’t have any details. I hope there will be peace, stability and continuity in Turkey,’ he said.”
JVW (eabb2a) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:16 pmOf course the obama administration had no idea as they were designing the new tranny bathrooms.
mg (31009b) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:16 pmWould this be the first ever military coup by a member of NATO?
JVW (eabb2a) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:18 pmIt’s from Alex Jones, so grain of salt:
Turkey Coup Is Start of European Civil War
To me, this is no different than the coup in Egypt to overthrow the Islamic Brotherhood government put in place by the ill-advised Islamic Spring interference (and vote; votes are not such a good idea in the Islamic world).
I don’t expect the European Civil War to start in earnest until after the French elections in 2017
Denver Guy (21d3a4) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:23 pmUPDATE – The Israeli news agency Haaretz seems to have pretty good coverage along with pictures. They say that CNN reports that Turkish President Erdogen is safe, though I didn’t come across that on CNN’s website.
JVW (eabb2a) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:23 pmHe’s cowering in a bunker somewhere. I expect Erdogen’s safety to be short lived, as is Mohammed Morsi’s.
Denver Guy (21d3a4) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:24 pmOK, I have to bow out now, so I’ll leave it to the other bloggers and commenters to update this story.
JVW (eabb2a) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:25 pm@ JVW (#5): Next-door neighbor Greece, in 1967, comes to mind.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:30 pmTreebeard has summoned an emergency convocation of the Ents, and they’re expected to arrive in Geneva by early 2021.
Beldar (fa637a) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:32 pmIf it removes the scumbag Erdogan from power, Godspeed to the Turkish military.
Pete (fe4202) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:35 pmNBC is reporting Erdogan is seeking refugee status in Germany.
Ha.
Denver Guy (21d3a4) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:35 pmErdogan was supposed to have made that impossible. It might be like Allende, ion taht the general who led that lied to him, because nobody really was loyal.
The ideology of the military leaders is very important – it could be bad. It is also not clear this coup will stick.
The United Sttes successfully intervened to undo a coup in Venezuela in 2002.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Venezuelan_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_attempt
In 1979, the United States – although this was not the intention – motivated the military to make a coup in favor of Khomeini.(the intention was that the generals should not make a coup, but let the government of Shapour Bakhtiar continue.)
Sammy Finkelman (643dcd) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:41 pmThere was a previous military coup in Turkey in 1980, which placed General Ahmet Kenan Evren in the Presidency. The military considers itself the guardian of the secular constitution of Kemal Ataturk. I was wondering what was taking them so long with Erdogan.
nk (dbc370) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:43 pmhttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/16/world/europe/military-attempts-coup-in-turkey-prime-minister-says.html
Sammy Finkelman (643dcd) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:44 pmThe military considers itself the guardian of the secular constitution of Kemal Ataturk. I was wondering what was taking them so long with Erdogan.
Erdogan had been trying to push senior officers out of the military and replace them with his cronies. I guess they reached the point where the military would no longer take it.
JVW (eabb2a) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:58 pmI was wondering what was taking them so long with Erdogan.
He had spent some time purging the military of opponents and putting his people in key positions. There must be a lot of senior commanders in the brig today, if they are lucky.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 7/15/2016 @ 2:58 pm“When you play the game of thrones, you win, or you die”
–Cersei Lannister
Kevin M (25bbee) — 7/15/2016 @ 3:01 pmcoup-de-ville
mg (31009b) — 7/15/2016 @ 3:10 pmcoup du jour
coup your pants
From BBC, but still interesting:
Dana (995455) — 7/15/2016 @ 3:10 pm[to the tune of “At the Hop”]
You can rock it, you can roll it,
hunson abedeer (80144e) — 7/15/2016 @ 3:53 pmYou can wing it, you can fling it
At the coup!
You can be an Ataturk, or a guy who goes berserk
At the coup!
You can hold your nose and “Pee-yew!’
But the point’s to crash the EU
At the coup!
Let’s go to the coup!
Let’s go to the coup!
Who’s that Khubla cat?
Where da white wimmenz at?
Ahh, ahh,
Let’s go to the coup!
The coup, or uprising, is incomplete. Erdogan is somewhere – not in Germany or the German embassy – hiding and calling on people to take to the streets. Shots were fired around the Parliament in Ankara and also in Istanbul. the U.s. government is calling on all U.s. citizens to stay indoors and shelter in place. They have been unable to establish contact with most or all governmental figures.
Sammy Finkelman (372aad) — 7/15/2016 @ 3:59 pmGreetings:
Erdo gone,
11B40 (6abb5c) — 7/15/2016 @ 4:02 pmLike a turkey through the corn
CNN: “MR. TRUMP, WHAT’S GOING ON IN TURKEY?”
TRUMP: “IT’S GREEK TO ME.”
DCSCA (a343d5) — 7/15/2016 @ 4:26 pmMSNBC showed a clip of Erdogan talking via some sort of webcasting with a Turkish newscaster on live TV. He was on vacation at a Turkish resort which MSNBC in a stunning display of journalistic knowledge described first as being in the Black Sea, and a minute later as being on the southern coast of Turkey.
kishnevi (fb4c79) — 7/15/2016 @ 4:29 pmJust when Erdogan had apologize to Russia (with reason) and appeared to have worked out a deal with Putin. Such a shame.
Where will ISIS sell its oil?
But then again, the presumption is that the “military” is a reincarnation of Ataturk, something else is equally probable.
And Russia needs to be watched. If these are “NATO” Generals, Russia will be tempted to try and keep what it had obtained from Erdogan. Which means the situation could escalate involving Georgia and any U. S. ships currently in the Black Sea, not to mention the Ukraine and the Baltic states.
Also in mind, could this be a U. S. initiative? Talk about a blog topic! Kerry and Obama wearing Superman costumes? Is Erdogan a Sunni?
World War I started with a Regatta involving the Kaiser and the British Fleet. Will Le Tour be the analogous head fake supporting the idea that international goodwill is the norm?
Meanwhile, in the U. S. Academy, the current topic is “Are transgender RIGHTS limited to the bathroom?”
Having politicized the FBI and the DoJ, Obama will be hard pressed to organize a unified American response (meaning supported by the Congress, for those who have been watching CNN for the last decade.) But this presumes he would have wanted to, which is probably in error. He still has his pen and pencil.
Could a Russian-American intervention be in the works to correct this situation? Kerry is no doubt pushing for exactly that, with James Taylor storming Gallipoli.
BobStewartatHome (404986) — 7/15/2016 @ 4:51 pmNot all coups are successful. The most famously unsuccessful one was by the Soviet generals against Gorbachev in 1991, which was hijacked by Yeltsin.
nk (dbc370) — 7/15/2016 @ 4:55 pmThen it was successful. For Yeltsin.
Rev. Hoagie® (0f4ef6) — 7/15/2016 @ 5:11 pm“Not all coups are successful.”
True enough. But their mere existence tells you a few things; it’s diagnostic, so to speak. Here’s hoping we have a few good coups someplace closer to, oh I dunno, oopsie-daisy, maybe like some place near Virginia.
“Russia will be tempted to try and keep what it had obtained from Erdogan. Which means the situation could escalate involving Georgia and any U. S. ships currently in the Black Sea, not to mention the Ukraine and the Baltic states.”
Why on earth do the people in say Kentucky or eastern Oregon care at all what the Russians do in Georgia or the Black Sea? I mean, really. A slightly better case could be made for the Baltic states, but it would involve considerably more subtle diplomatic acumen than this sort of shrieking hysteria. Your own people are being massively invaded and overwhelmed by Mexico and Guatemala and the Islamic countries, who are all openly gloating about it. You have Islamic mass murders pretty much every week at this point. And you’re worried about not OUR Georgia, but THEIR Georgia?
Ignatz Mouse was right.
hunson abedeer (80144e) — 7/15/2016 @ 5:11 pmQuradawi, the gay stoning iman moderate is against the coup, so is the UAE salafi apologist, Shadi Hamid, who was nonplussed over yesterday, so I know whose team I’m supporting,
narciso (732bc0) — 7/15/2016 @ 5:24 pmSame here, narsciso. Hardly rocket science.
felipe (2457e9) — 7/15/2016 @ 5:28 pmone more question sir,
http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/15/nice-terrorist-visited-islamic-religious-center-in-nyc-as-recently-as-2014/
narciso (732bc0) — 7/15/2016 @ 5:28 pmObama is against the coup, just like he was against the one in Egypt.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 7/15/2016 @ 5:39 pmThe real question will be how much of the armed forces back the junta. If it’s just Erdogan’s islamists against tanks and machine guns, then it’ll be over soon. If there’s a split in the army….
Kevin M (25bbee) — 7/15/2016 @ 5:42 pmand the one in honduras, the first challenge to his regime, to which the punishment was castaway,
narciso (732bc0) — 7/15/2016 @ 6:15 pmThere was recent news of cooperation between Turkey and Israel so how do we know right now that thawing relations with Israel wasn’t why the military reacted? Just because the Egyptian military was intolerant of Jihadists when they overthrew the democratically elected civilian leadership doesn’t necessarily mean the Turkish military is the same way, does it?
I hope it is, but who the hell knows?
Of course if this one turns out good, what the hell are we to think of democracy? Democracy might be the biggest problem on earth right now.
jcurtis (eb08f6) — 7/15/2016 @ 6:48 pmTequila SunriseObama SermonIt’s another Obama sermon
Rollin’ slowly ‘cross my mind, he ain’t our kind
He was just-a readin’ TOTUS
Talkin’ ’bout the schemes he planned to try
While people die
Ev’ry time that he has a chance
Goes into his song and dance
It ain’t just circumstance
He’s never really been a leader
Forever been a bottom-feeder
It’s been too long
Oh and it’s a hollow feelin’ when
He’s makin’ foes outta friends
It never ends
He’s never had an ounce of backbone
Wonder why the right words never come
Teh man’s a bum
It’s another Obama sermon, this old world
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/15/2016 @ 7:00 pmStill bleeds the same,
A goddam shame, mmmMMMMMM
Exactly.
Denver Guy (21d3a4) — 7/15/2016 @ 7:05 pmThe problems with Israel were created by Erdogan and his Islamism. The Turkish military was training with the Israelis against their common enemies — Syria and sundry terrorist groups — and were getting along fine.
nk (dbc370) — 7/15/2016 @ 7:18 pmMeanwhile it appears the coup has failed
kishnevi (fb4c79) — 7/15/2016 @ 7:55 pmhttp://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-primeminister-idUSKCN0ZV2HK
Likely, but don’t forget Erdogan controls the Turkish media, and the Western media is worthless.
nk (dbc370) — 7/15/2016 @ 8:07 pmI’ve added updates from the AP to the post.
Dana (995455) — 7/15/2016 @ 8:08 pmJohn Kerry sends wishes for a peaceful resolution from his yacht.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 7/15/2016 @ 8:22 pmyes, who were the coup plotters, no named figures one can tell,
you know bob graham might have had something so many years ago,
https://twitter.com/paulsperry_/status/754159440476143616
narciso (732bc0) — 7/15/2016 @ 8:57 pmVenezuelan Military failed because when they had Chavez the general should have put two bullets in his head.
No sense in trying a Coup if you are unwilling to exterminate senior leadership with rapid prejudice.
Rodney King's Spirit (c2f82f) — 7/15/2016 @ 8:58 pmInteresting that barky o is again siding w the islamists and/or the socialist side. Barky O stood against the Honduran govt when a socialist coup was attempted there.
jb (85a079) — 7/15/2016 @ 9:24 pmFor years, Barack has been telling us that he’s all for change. But I guess he’s against change in Turkey for some reason.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 7/15/2016 @ 9:39 pmErdogan is going to claim that he is the caliph and that his survival and ascension was proven by his withstanding this coup attempt.
It’s really a shame if this fails. He’s a psycho.
NJRob (a07d2e) — 7/15/2016 @ 10:27 pmcoup coup cachoo
mg (31009b) — 7/16/2016 @ 12:27 amThis would-be junta was evidently opposed by the vast majority of the Turkish military and the national security services. The organisers of this half-assed putsch should be denounced for incompetence alone, much less the people they have killed and the damage they have done to their country. Quite apart from the body count, the young enlisted men (some of whom are probably draftees) following their officers’ commands are going to have a wretched future ahead of them.
As distressing as Pasha Erdogan may be to most of us here and many (if not most) Turks, the same people who protested his authoritarianism in Gezi are the same people who came out against the tanks on the Bosphorus.
JP (c6e8e1) — 7/16/2016 @ 2:38 amThis coup is exactly why militant Islamism is winning and why more moderate segments of Islam are failing. The Gulen movement is a moderate strain of the faith, and Erdogan has made concerted efforts to destroy it. If this helps spotlight the Gulen movement and expands its support, then maybe it was worth it.
WarrenPeese (8efeee) — 7/16/2016 @ 8:02 amWell, that sucks.
Credit to the men in the military who risked, and some of whom lost, it all in pursuit of keeping their oath to keep Turkey secular and democratic.
RIP.
Denver Guy (21d3a4) — 7/16/2016 @ 8:52 amJP,
Erdogan has been busy replacing secular military leaders with his own islamist “yes men.” It’s no surprise that the military has been co-opted to such a degree that the attempt failed. That is, if it wasn’t a Reichstag event in the first place to allow Erdogan to declare himself sultan and consolidate power.
njrob (f719a5) — 7/16/2016 @ 9:01 amGreece has Islam’s back:
“WHEN YOU STRIKE AT A KING… Turkey Coup Supporters Arrested in Greece After Landing in Helicopter.
The helicopter landed after sending a distress signal. All eight people were arrested by Greek police as soon as it touched down on charges of illegal entry into the country and transferred to the local police station, according to local officials.
The eight coup supporters have all requested political asylum in Greece and these requests are being processed, although Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has asked Greece to extradite those on the helicopter seeking asylum.
Olga Gerovasili, a spokeswoman for the Greek government, told state TV that international law procedures are going to be followed.
“It will be taken into consideration that in their country they are accused of attempting to overturn the constitutional democracy and violate legality,” Mrs. Gerovasili said.
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/238826/
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 7/16/2016 @ 9:34 amObama called Erdogan to congratulate him today:
“I just wanted to tell you that all Americans are with you and wanted me to tell you that there’s no sound on earth as beautiful as the Mooslim call to prayer…Allahu Akbar!”
Pts (ce7fc3) — 7/16/2016 @ 9:36 amMaybe Newt should have said “Gulen or Get Out!” it might just meet the time, manner, place tests of first amendment tests.
Possibility #4 (if you follow the pm media rundown) – the good friend of the Republican candidate for POTUS – V. Putin- got certain elements of the Turkish military got for a coup, but instead they became an unknowing show and tell for Trump to scare the NevetTrumps away from effecting a delegation al coup in Cleveland.
The contras were there not to win Nicaragua but to scare Mexico away from blatant communism (c. Cardenas) in their 1988 elections
urbanleftbehind (924249) — 7/16/2016 @ 9:39 amTypical Greece if they turn them in to Erdogan. Pumps its chest at Jews, Albanians, Roma and SubSahara africans, but shits pants when the Turk comes from behind the bushes.
urbanleftbehind (924249) — 7/16/2016 @ 9:42 amPossibility #5:
The US got some F-16s in the air and intervened, shooting down a helicopter carrying the coup leaders, while providing signal intelligence to Erdogan.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 7/16/2016 @ 11:13 amI note that Erdogan is blaming this guy Gulen, who seems to be his own personal Emmanuel Goldstein — an ex-ally who helped build his movement, then split with him over the rampant corruption the Erdogan family was engaging in.
As all power is now consolidated in the Turkish President (something the voters recently refused to do), political opponents of Erdogan are going to have a very rough time indeed. Reichstag fire or not, never let a crisis go to waste.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 7/16/2016 @ 11:18 amreally, I lived in the center of the nicaraguan resistance, well that was sweetwater, but clearly they intended to depose ortega, unfortunately mexico played host to the fmln guerillas, the guatemalans and other groups, the gulenists are scapegoats, like trotskyites, and the vlasovites,
narciso (732bc0) — 7/16/2016 @ 2:50 pmAbout goddammed time.
Steve57 (193d96) — 7/16/2016 @ 2:51 pmyou can get a journalist to believe anything but the truth,
http://dailycaller.com/2016/07/15/exiled-cleric-blamed-by-erdogan-for-masterminding-coup-is-denying-involvement/?utm_campaign=atdailycaller&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social
narciso (732bc0) — 7/16/2016 @ 2:51 pmCan I get some mashed potatoes with that turkey coup?
mg (31009b) — 7/16/2016 @ 3:19 pmwell it’s more a matter of gravy,
narciso (732bc0) — 7/16/2016 @ 3:26 pmgood point, narciso.
mg (31009b) — 7/16/2016 @ 3:57 pmbut the stuffing is stale
http://www.rferl.org/content/explainer-fethullah-gulen/27862273.html
narciso (732bc0) — 7/16/2016 @ 4:45 pmany question of who won and lost,
http://www.the-american-interest.com/2014/01/07/erdogans-son-caught-with-al-qaeda-financier/
narciso (732bc0) — 7/16/2016 @ 4:48 pmhhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGXjjgMLQVs
“Lt. Rick Rescorla, B Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Air Mobile”
No it doesn’t rest on his word. Not entirely.
Steve57 (193d96) — 7/16/2016 @ 6:03 pmAlthough Rick Resoorla’s word was and is as good a gold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGXjjgMLQVs
Steve57 (193d96) — 7/16/2016 @ 6:41 pmwould there was anybody at foggy bottom with a clue, I would have offered a trade, you give us qadi, a real nasty piece of work, you get gulen, he would never go for it, but it would define the stake,
narciso (732bc0) — 7/16/2016 @ 6:44 pmwhy things happen, the way they do,
http://atimes.com/2016/07/the-sick-man-of-europe-once-again/
narciso (732bc0) — 7/16/2016 @ 6:58 pmtime for NATO to take out the turkeytrash eh
chop chop losers
happyfeet (28a91b) — 7/16/2016 @ 9:06 pmnato needs a suicide mission
mg (31009b) — 7/17/2016 @ 12:53 amKevin M (25bbee) — 7/16/2016 @ 11:18 am
The comparison might be more apt than you think. The Reichstag fire wasn’t done by the Nazis. Nor by the Communists. This one was almost certainly not done either by Gulen or by Erdogan.
Sammy Finkelman (372aad) — 7/17/2016 @ 3:57 amGiven the paranoiac tendencies of Turkish politics, you’re quite likely right.
This is a national culture descended from peoples who turned Byzantine into an adjective.
JP (bd5dd9) — 7/18/2016 @ 5:26 amErdogan is using alist for arrests that evidentaly was compiled ome time before.
Sammy Finkelman (372aad) — 7/18/2016 @ 4:15 pmPretty clear it’s now soaking in Greece.
IGotBupkis, "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses." (225d0d) — 7/18/2016 @ 8:14 pm